The Hawaii State Department of Education named the Daniel K. Inouye Elementary School’s custodial team its 2017 Employee Team of the Year for their special and continued contributions to education and the students of Hawaii. (Hawaii Department of Education photo)

Department of EducationState of Hawaii
HONOLULU — The Hawaii State Department of Education has named its 2017 Employee and Team of the Year award winners, recognizing employees for their special and continued contributions to education and the students of Hawaii.

“Each of our awardees is motivated by a profound dedication to our students and they have performed outstanding work at our schools,” said Dr. Christina Kishimoto, HIDOE Superintendent. “Our student successes are founded upon the hard work of our employees and these awards recognize only a small fraction of our collective efforts.”

Schofield team honoredThe Daniel K. Inouye Elementary School Custodial Team was named HIDOE’s 2017 Team of the Year. This all-purpose team is ready with tools to perform building repairs, gardening, cleaning and all manner of maintenance needs.

Showing great initiative, the team has conducted campus visits to other schools to learn different techniques and share knowledge with other custodial teams. Its efficiency and ingenuity has helped to reduce future cleaning time and replacement costs.

The team is comprised of seven members:

Jessie Cardenas,

Schuyler Castellano,

Moises Lopez,

Randall Naki,

Terence Omori,

Jose Senas and

Maria Villanueva.

Along with the 2017 Employee of the Year, the Daniel K. Inouye Elementary School Custodial Team will represent HIDOE in the upcoming annual Governor’s Awards ceremony for Distinguished State Service.